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Bewteen motos - Wyn Kern

posted Sep 15, 2008 to Featured Articles by Jenn Sheppard
from the Sep 2008 issue

wynn_446

Wyn Kern has many hands in the pot. He’s the President of Unlimited Sports MX, Inc., owns two Performance Honda dealerships, Performance Engineering, sits on the Alachua County Advisory Board, sanctions the Gold Cups, Winter AMs, Florida Series and the Mini Olympics. He’s a very busy man, but we called to see how he’s getting ready for the upcoming race season and what else he’s getting his hands into.

FLmx: The first thing I want to ask you is, how do you do it all?

WK: I have some really good managers and I try to delegate as much responsibility as I can to take the load off of me.

FLmx: Have you always been a fan of motorcycles? How did you get started?

WK: My dad bought me a Honda Mini Trail 50 when I was four years old and it was on from there. Everyone in my neighborhood had motorcycles and we made trails and tracks and rode everyday. I started racing when I was nine.

FLmx: Are you a Florida native?

WK: No, I was born in Mississippi. I grew up racing in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. My Dad would bring me to Florida to do the Winter AM Series back in the late 70’s and 80’s. I moved to Florida in 1988.

FLmx: No doubt you’ve seen the sport of motocross develop a lot more than anyone else. Specifically, how has the Mini Olympics evolved?

WK: In the beginning, the Mini O’s had multiple events at different locations like St Pete., Ocala and Chicken Farm. They would do MX, Flat Track, GP and then SX was added. As time went by, the riders and the factories were more focused on MX and SX. The GP was hard to control with some riders being able to cut the track in the back sections, and I felt like that diminished the valve of the race. So, I decided to cut the GP and give more time and attention to the SX and MX events, since that is where everyone is focused anyway.

FLmx: Gatorback is really a world famous track and actually used to host a Pro National and a Regional Qualifier? Why no longer?

WK: The reason for the Gatorback National going away was that the race was always the weekend before Daytona Supercross and a couple of the factory race team mangers decided that they did not want an outdoor national during the supercross series. The AMA told Bill West that they would have to change the date for the Gatorback National and Bill said that if he could not have it on the same date then he did not want to have it on another date. So, the AMA took it off of the schedule in 1998.

As far as the Regional Qualifier, we had one three years ago and their rule is that you have to sit out a year before you can get an area or regional. We sat out the next year and last year we put in for an area or a regional, but did not get one. They said that Gatorback was too close to Reddick and it made more sense to have the qualifier further away. So, they decided to have it at Seminole Tribe.

FLmx: Your events certainly boost the local economy from Gainesville to Waldo. Do you know how much it brings in to those areas?

WK: I don’t know for sure the amount, but I do know the local businesses love it when we have races.

FLmx: Gatorback is the only moto track in Florida that still hosts a FTR harescramble. How important is that event for you and the future of woods racing?

WK: We enjoy doing the Gatorback Harescramble with FTR and BSTR. We always have the biggest FTR harescramble turnout of the year, so that means that the riders really like the course.

FLmx: I heard the Big Knobby (the giant Dunlop replica behind the starting line at Gatorback) was your idea? How awesome is that?!

WK: Mike Buckley from Dunlop and I were renewing our sponsorship contract last year and we were discussing some ideas that would give Dunlop some more exposure. I know this guy in

Georgia

that can make anything out of foam and I asked him about making a big Dunlop tire and he did it. Mark White is the guy that made it. He is good.

FLmx: Have you done anything new this year to any of your tracks?

WK: We just started getting ready for the Gold Cup Series about a week ago. Jason Dodds is working on the supercross track now. It will be different this year. We are going to have a practice day on the supercross track October 18^th. That will be the last round of the Gold Cup Series.

FLmx: What else is new for the Gold Cups this year? You’re adding something new to the pot?

WK: We will be giving away thousands of dollars in contingency at each round of the series during what we’re calling the Gold Cup Live Show. RJ Huss is working with Randy Yoho on the Gold Cup Live Show and the overall Imoto Project. Gold Cup Live is going to take place during each race and RJ will be focusing on five specific classes at each round. There will be a Gold Cup Pre-Race show looking at various sections of the track, a brief track history and why that track is special to the series. RJ will be interviewing riders as well as using footage from their classes. We will have a post race show in the afternoon as the races are wrapping up. There will be multiple videos from each round of the Gold Cups, which can easily be viewed on imotoonline.com. We will also have the Imoto program available at sign-up and available at the tent for anyone to grab.

FLmx: Do you have a favorite track?

WK: Well, I guess right now I would have to say Gatorback. Back when I was racing in the early 90’s, I really liked Cocoa during the Winter Am. It was so rough and the good lines changed every lap until you were riding on the very edge of the track at the end. Back in the 80’s, I really liked to race at Lake Whitney. That was always a fun track for me.

FLmx: You opened a second Honda dealership in Wesley Chapel besides the one in Winter Garden. Are you selling more street bikes and scooters these days?

WK: We opened the Wesley Chapel dealership in 2005 It is located on the corner of I-75 and SR 54, so it is a high traffic area that gets a lot of exposure. That store is doing well. In April of this year, we started selling a lot of scooters and small street bikes.

FLmx: What is your favorite role to play - be it at the track or the shop - where do you find peace of mind?

WK: I like being at the track. When I am at the dealership, I mainly work on accounting and study the numbers, so that is not a lot of fun. It is necessary though. Peace of mind comes from being on the boat or the plane. I like to fish and fly.

FLmx: You also like to stay involved in the community?

WK: Alachua County has a program called Safe Kids Coalition that helps train parents and children on ATV safety, and I have offered to help them with a facility and loan them ATVs to help train them on. I think all too often the parents don’t really know what is involved in riding an ATV and they put their child on one without them knowing anything about how to ride.

FLmx: How is your relationship with Honda being that you are exclusive with them?

WK: We have a very good relationship with Honda. Honda Powerhouse was designed for exclusive Honda dealers and a plan to provide top notch customer service. There is a specific building design and interior fixtures. It’s good.

FLmx: Do you have any sponsors or specific people you’d like to thank?

WK: We just extended our sponsorship agreement with Parts Unlimited, Pro Circuit, and Scott for another five years. We just signed another five year deal with Dunlop tires last year. We also signed a five year deal with Red Bull last year. And of course, Fox is always a great sponsor of our events.

FLmx: Thanks, Wyn! See you at Gatorback!

Wyn: Thanks.